Copy Ninja and Pup 2
by Hichiisai
Summary: Kakashi spent the last 7 years governing ANBU and watching over Naruto. 7 years fraught with danger but also joy. Now Naruto is graduating from the Academy, and protecting him is going to get a lot harder. Especially since old foes aren't likely to stay away and new ones seem intent on joining the fray.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Full version of chapter one is now posted so please skip ahead to next chapter. Didn't want to remove the teaser because of review linking. Thanks all. Ps sorry for the previously missing line breaks. Forgot always takes them out. It's been corrected now.**

"Just do your best, do everything you can.  
And don't you worry what the bitter hearts are gonna say."

~Jimmy Eat World- The Middle

Chapter 1

Kakashi sighed again as he waited for his team mates to catch up. He had promised Naruto he would be home in time for his genin test but what had started out a relatively simple A rank had quickly devolved into a spectacularly messy S rank.

_He's going to kill me if I'm not home by the end of the day,_ Kakashi thought bleakly. Unless he was willing to leave his team behind he was going to have to resign himself to dealing with a very angry blonde. _Granted I missed his last test because of a mission too, so that might have something to do with it. It was only an end of year examination but this is his genin test and if he wasn't forgiving then, I doubt he'll be now._

Kakashi's head snapped up and a kunai was already airborne when he recognized one of his ANBU.

"You know Snake, it's generally unhealthy to sneak up on people," Kakashi drawled as the ANBU caught his kunai easily and tossed it back to him.

"Awwww come on boss. Is that how you thank your relief force?" Snake teased.

"Relief force?" As Kakashi spoke three more ANBU appeared on the branches near her.

"Well it is the brat's test today and you were running late, so we've had teams on the lookout since."

"Great, so now all of ANBU thinks I'm incompetent…"

"Nah, you just have a tendency to be a bit late to things so we thought we'd assist you in overcoming that habit."

Kakashi's visible eye twitched and he growled a little, barely restraining himself from launching a few more kunai. Then he sighed. "Fine, but you better make sure they get back without any additional injuries or mental trauma. This last mission wasn't exactly a walk in the park."

"Sure thing boss."

With that Kakashi was back to darting through the trees, though a part of him kept up a running commentary on how disrespectful his subordinates were becoming.

_Who am I kidding? In my seven year tenure Anko's never listened to a word I said that wasn't a direct order. Itachi was giving me parenting advice from day one and Hizashi was nearly old enough to be my father. Tenzou's the only one who actually listened._

**AN: Left this chapter up from the teaser, fixed the redundancy.**


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Please read AN at end of chapter, also I rewrote the first chapter, though not entirely, so yes you will see some overlap here.

"Just do your best, do everything you can.  
And don't you worry what the bitter hearts are gonna say."

~Jimmy Eat World- The Middle

Chapter 1

Kakashi sighed again as he waited for his team mates to catch up. He had promised Naruto he would be home in time for his genin test but what had started out a relatively simple A rank had quickly devolved into a spectacularly messy S rank.

_He's going to kill me if I'm not home by the end of the day,_ Kakashi thought bleakly. Unless he was willing to leave his team behind he was going to have to resign himself to dealing with a very angry blonde. _Granted I missed his last test because of a mission too, so that might have something to do with it. It was only an end of year examination but this is his genin test and if he wasn't forgiving then, I doubt he'll be now._

Kakashi's head snapped up and a kunai was already airborne when he recognized one of his ANBU.

"You know Snake, it's generally unhealthy to sneak up on people," Kakashi drawled as the ANBU caught his kunai easily and tossed it back to him.

"Awwww come on boss. Is that how you thank your relief force?" Snake teased.

"Relief force?" As Kakashi spoke three more ANBU appeared on the branches near her.

"Well it is the brat's test today and you were running late, so we've had teams on the lookout since."

"Great, so now all of ANBU thinks I'm incompetent…"

"Nah, you just have a tendency to be a bit late to things so we thought we'd assist you in overcoming that habit."

Kakashi's visible eye twitched and he growled a little, barely restraining himself from launching a few more kunai. Then he sighed. "Fine, but you better make sure they get back without any additional injuries or mental trauma. This last mission wasn't exactly a walk in the park."

"Sure thing boss."

With that Kakashi was back to darting through the trees, though a part of him kept up a running commentary on how disrespectful his subordinates were becoming.

_Who am I kidding? In my seven year tenure Anko's never listened to a word I said that wasn't a direct order. Itachi was giving me parenting advice from day one and Hizashi was nearly old enough to be my father. Tenzou's the only one who actually listened._

* * *

Meanwhile Naruto anxiously awaited his turn to complete his jutsu test. The weapons test had been a piece of cake, and while some of the written had been harder than he had liked, he knew he had passed it. All that was left was performing his three jutsu.

_And if I pass, nii-san promised to teach me the Kage Bunshin as a reward. I will make him teach me that technique. _

"Uzumaki, Naruto."

He jumped as his name was called, only to grin as Sasuke walked by and gave a nod.

"You're turn baka. Don't take too long."

"As if aho. I'll be done before you know it," Naruto said as he walked towards the open door. Inside Iruka sat next to another one of the teachers.

"Ah, ready then Naruto?" Iruka asked with a tired smile.

"You bet sensei! Let's do this!"

"Alright start with the Kawarimi then," Iruka said.

Naruto quickly ran through the hand signs and replaced himself with one of the chairs nearby. Then he ran through them again and put himself back.

"Good, now henge," the assistant said.

Naruto thought carefully about it before turning into Anko-san with his henge. Iruka just groaned while the other assistant paled suddenly and started coughing.

"That's fine Naruto, you can let it go. Then demonstrate the Bunshin please," Iruka said even as Naruto let the henge go. Naruto took in a deep breath. This was his worst technique and he couldn't make any less than seven no matter how hard he tried, but Kakashi had told him that there was no limit to how many he made.

"Bunshin," Naruto whispered as the seven clones flickered behind him. Each was perfectly formed and Naruto let out a sigh of relief.

"Wow, we only needed three but hey," the assistant said with a smile. "Good job kid."

"You've worked hard Naruto," Iruka told him with a smile as he handed him a hitai-ate. "Congratulations."

"Thanks sensei!" Naruto said, barely restraining himself from tackling his teacher. After the Mizuki incident a few years ago, Iruka-sensei had really looked out for him. He hadn't even gotten that mad when Sasuke and Naruto had gotten into trouble.

"We'll get ramen to celebrate later this week," Iruka said as he ruffled Naruto's hair.

"Awesome! Ah, I gotta go! See you later sensei."

With that, Naruto dashed out of the room to where Sasuke waited.

"Took you long enough."

"Iruka-sensei was just congratulating me on how awesome I am," Naruto retorted and Sasuke just snorted.

"So how many clones?"

"Seven, but nii-san is supposed to teach me a new clone jutsu so I can get it down to one," Naruto said more seriously.

"Still, seven's not bad for you. I made five."

"Show off."

"I'll see you tomorrow for dinner right?"

"Yeah, tonight is supposed to be family stuff I guess. At least that's what nii-san said."

"My nii-san said the same thing. He said he'll teach me a new technique too, so we'll spar soon and test them out."

"Yeah."

Naruto waved as they exited the building and saw Itachi standing at the gates with Mikoto and Shisui. Sasuke walked over to his family, hitai-ate proudly displayed. Naruto tailed behind, though his was also already on display on his forehead.

"Still waiting on the lazy brother of yours?" Mikoto asked sympathetically.

"Heh, he always runs late. I'd be worried if he was on time," Naruto said, even if he was disappointed that Kakashi wasn't there yet.

"You'd be worried if who was on time brat?" a voice said from behind him. Naruto spun and jumped at Kakashi.

"Nii-san! I passed, I passed and I only made 7 clones and Iruka-sensei said I worked hard and he's going to take me for ramen sometime, and you made it!"

"Good job, and please make sure to breath. I'm not sure how I'd explain to the medic nins that you passed out from talking nonstop," Kakashi teased even as he hugged Naruto and then ruffled his hair. "Now, say goodbye to Sasuke and his family so we can all go home."

"Bye Sasuke. See you later Itachi-nii, Shisui-san, Mikoto-san," Naruto said with a wave. Kakashi nodded his farewells and then lead his charge away.

"Since Iruka-sensei is taking you for celebratory ramen, let's pick something else for our celebration dinner," Kakashi said. Naruto pouted but eventually relented and picked the yakitori place instead.

As they were eating, Naruto noticed that Kakashi's clothes were torn in places, and he was pretty sure there was blood too. Kakashi saw his glances and just smiled.

"None of the blood is mine, and the torn material isn't a big deal. The mission just decided act like a poorly made explosive tag."

"You mean it blew up in your face?" Naruto asked, remembering the time he had attempted to make a tag without supervision. His nii-san had not been happy with him.

"Exactly. But everyone came back alive, with minor injuries. I was a bit worried I wouldn't make it before your test ended though, so I didn't stop home first," Kakashi said.

"I'd rather you be a little late and make it back at all," Naruto said and Kakashi nodded.

"It's part of being a ninja. You know that. And I promised I'd always come back to you. So long as I'm still alive I will always come home."

"Yeah and you're the strongest ever right nii-kun, so you'll always come home."

"Maybe not the strongest ever, but I am strong, so just believe in me," Kakashi said, ruffling Naruto's hair gently. "You'll have to promise me to come back too now, you know. Pretty soon you'll be going on missions and who knows what will happen."

"I'll always come back nii-kun. I promise!"

AN: Ok guys, so before my normal author's note, I first want your opinions. I have currently about 15k words written for this story, however that's nowhere near complete. My advisors for school have decided they would like me to student teach this year (as opposed to next as was initially planned). So for the next two weeks, I'll be cramming for a test that I absolutely cannot fail, while being in class. And after that, I'll have two masters level courses at the same time. Would you rather I post what I have at one chapter a week or so until I run out (hoping maybe I get a chance to write but realizing I don't have a life until February again and even then I start student teaching in March so really no life for sure until the summer) or should I wait to post until I have more to the story written?

And now on to my regular notes. This story has had its outline redone about 50 times and I'm not joking when I say that. I debated graduating the kids early, changing team arrangements and all sorts of weird alterations before settling on the current plot. It was partly inspired by Team 7's Ascension by Eilyfe, which was a great version of a stronger team 7. Naruto isn't going to be super smart per se, but he was raised by Kakashi which has to count for something. At the same time, with Kakashi and Itachi still alive/around, I don't see either being willing to let their precious little ones graduate any earlier than necessary since they want them to not be child soldiers any more than necessary. Because of that, graduation age remains the same. As for team sorting, well you'll see next chapter

Giselle- you're always one of my first reviews so thanks for always reading. Sorry it took me so long ;p

Empty surface- sorry for the wait, I hope you'll find it as good as CN&amp;P1

SoraHuuzuke- thanks so much for coming back!

ArdeaSpark- in all honesty it has 3 parts total, so hopefully I'll get off my butt so you guys can read them all lol.

Prescripto- Lol yep. They adore him so much they won't let the poor man retire. Thanks for coming back!

Uchiha'sLegacy- Sorry it took so long…honestly wasn't expecting to get slammed with school.

Azfaerydust-you wish is my command, at least until I run out . Fair warning, this arc is much shorter than the last, at least time wise, though the events themselves could stretch it out a bit.

Icebabe- thanks so much. Enjoy.

Darkhuntress- I say that all the time. The guy just can't get a break.

Silverdreams- me too! I love this particular AU XD.

Duchessme- this is a pretty direct continuation, though there are events that will need to be explained still as I never did quite finish all of my ones shots.

Kairilovessora- Again my humblest apologies for the wait. Life just seems to go rawr sometimes and I have no Anko to look out for me lol.

Kunohichi- coming up

Akinohikari-thanks! Hope it lives up to your expectations

Sanity and Katlin- Thanks, though I gotta say it's scary having so many people that like it… totally afraid I'll mess something up.

SailorGa-thanks!

Kaleesh- I hope I explained it better with the modifications in this chapter. Most schools have an end of year exam so that's what I was referring too.

Annabelle- lol I'm working on it!

Luzzy- Bro, brunette, either works. I'm just glad you love it.

Dreamlea- sorry this one is tech short. I'll post another one soon to make up for it.

Anyone who posted reviews on CNP1, I'll respond to them when I get off my butt and finish the next one shot for it but thank you thank you thank you for the reviews!


	3. Chapter 3

"Better stand tall when they're calling you out  
Don't bend, don't break, baby, don't back down"

Bon Jovi- It's My Life

Chapter 2

Naruto was practically vibrating with excitement as he walked back to the academy for the last time. Kakashi had spent the previous week teaching him the Kage Bunshin as promised. It had only taken Naruto a day to learn it, and he was excited to show it to Sasuke.

Sasuke was already in the classroom when he got there, so Naruto took the seat next to him. It was the least he could do to help keep away a few of the fangirls Sasuke had gotten over the years. Being at the top of the class got you a lot of attention and Naruto was the only one who could really compete.

"Alright class, settle down," Iruka-sensei said as he walked in. "Let's get this done quickly. I'll announce the teams, then you will have a break for lunch. After lunch your sensei will come pick you up."

"Who do you think will end up together?" Naruto whispered to Sasuke as Iruka started reading the team listings.

"How would I know? Itachi-ni isn't one of the jounin sensei. Did Kakashi-san say anything?"

"Nothing. In fact he refused to talk about it at all. I'm not sure if it's just because he's mad about something or if he's intentionally hiding it," Naruto said with a grimace.

"Well one way to find out I suppose," Sasuke said. Naruto agreed and then pulled out a piece of paper to take notes out of habit.

Team by team was read out until finally he was called, along with Sakura and Sasuke for team 7. He shot Sasuke a grin, though he frowned when he realized their sensei hadn't been announced. Team 8 surprised him when Kiba, Hinata, and Shino were all put on a team. Team 10 was another group of clan children with Ino, Shikamaru, and Chouji.

"Do they always put all the clan kids together?" Naruto couldn't help asking Sasuke as he reviewed his notes. "Technically we're the only team that's mixed."

"Probably based on skills. Itachi-ni said we'd have to be good enough to pass our sensei's test too, so they want the best to succeed by putting them together?" Sasuke said giving Naruto a shrug. "Doesn't matter to me. With the two of us on the same team our third member doesn't really matter anyway."

"Yeah, we'll own the second test! Now let's get lunch."

"You and your stomach," Sasuke grumbled, though he stood to follow Naruto.

"Um, Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun…"

Both boys stopped and turned to see a nervous looking Sakura standing there. She blushed but then took a deep breath.

"Can I come with you for lunch?"

It was said in such a rush that it took Naruto and Sasuke a minute to decipher it. When they did, they both looked at each other, at Sakura, and then at each other again. Finally Sasuke gave a minute nod to Naruto, who gave Sakura a big grin.

"Sure. We're going to go get ramen."

"Since that's all this baka eats when given a choice," Sasuke said.

"Hey, that's because Kashi-ni always makes me eat healthy stuff. A man's gotta have ramen too you know," Naruto retorted. He turned back to Sakura and gave her another smile. "Don't worry about him; he's always a smart butt. You'll get used to it."

"Ah, alright," Sakura said as she followed Naruto and Sasuke to Ichiraku's.

They all ordered and dug in, with no one speaking until the first bowls of ramen had been finished. Naruto ordered a second while Sakura and Sasuke just set their chopsticks down.

"So, we'll need a strategy for the second test," Sasuke finally said.

"Second test?" Sakura looked confused so Naruto decided to explain given that Sasuke didn't look like he was about to.

"Each jounin sensei gives their team a second test to confirm whether they'll actually be genin or not."

"So we could still fail?!"

"Don't panic Sakura-san," Naruto said with a cheeky grin. "You've got me and Sasuke on your team. There's no way we're failing anything. We just need a plan."

"Do we even know what the test is though?" Sakura asked, her eyes wide.

"Not yet, but they can include anything from combat to retrieval tasks," Sasuke said. "The key is to work together to accomplish whatever the task is."

"Yeah. Everyone said it is supposed to simulate missions to see how well we fit and if we're ready to be ninja for Konoha," Naruto said, remembering what the ANBU had told him.

"So treat it like a mission then?" Sakura asked. She had a thoughtful look on her face as she contemplated the information. "Should we have a team leader then?"

"That's probably a good idea," Naruto said as he finished his second bowl of ramen. "That way there's no arguing later. Have fun Sasuke."

Sasuke just tsked. "You just want me to do all of the hard work."

"You always do better on the tests anyways," Naruto said. "We both know I'm more of a fighter than planner."

"Yeah yeah, I got it," Sasuke said. As much as he would have liked to argue, they had a bad track record when it came to Naruto coming up with the ideas. "Sakura, you're pretty good with chakra control and thrown weapons, but bad with Taijutsu right?"

Sakura nodded and blushed at the thought that Sasuke had paid that much attention to her. However both boys caught her blush and shook their heads.

"I'm only going to say this once," Sasuke said. "If you act like a fangirl, I will make your life difficult."

"Ah, sorry," Sakura said, trying to get her cheeks to stop burning from embarrassment.

"Don't worry about it too much Sakura-san," Naruto said. "He just gets grumpy when people bother him a lot. Some of the girls got really annoying a few years ago."

Naruto shuddered at the memory. They had followed Sasuke, and thus him, around for months. Not even when Anko and some of the other Kunoichi had confronted them had they completely stopped.

"I remember," Sakura said. Naruto saw her grimace, and figured she must have been on the receiving end of one of those lectures. "I'll work on it, I promise. I really do want to be a good ninja."

"We know," Naruto reassured her. "You're pretty strong for a kunoichi, especially from our class, so it'll be fine."

Sasuke just nodded and then gestured to the door with another nod. Naruto nodded and went to pay. Sakura thanked him as he paid for her ramen as well as his own and Sasuke's.

"You guys really know each other well don't you?" Sakura said as they walked back.

"We've been friends since before we started the academy," Naruto said.

"We've just been through a lot together," Sasuke said. His face was set in a grimace even as Naruto just laughed.

"That's probably an understatement actually. One time, when we were little, we got kidnapped together."

"Another time this baka nearly got us killed because he thought it would be fun to sneak outside the wall."

"Don't forget the time we did the flour and feathers traps on that one ANBU team."

"And because my nii-san works with his nii-san, I couldn't get rid of him," Sasuke muttered. Naruto laughed again and slung his arm over Sasuke's shoulders.

"As if you'd want to. Life is more fun with me around."

"More like I have to keep an eye on you or you're going to end up doing something more stupid than normal."

They bickered the entire way back to the school and only settled down as they picked seats once again. This time Sasuke sat in the middle while Naruto took the seat to his right and Sakura sat on his left. Time passed and the various sensei came and left with their teams. Finally only team 7 sat in the classroom, as even Iruka-sensei had to leave for his other job.

"So what now?" Naruto asked, already beyond bored.

"We wait," Sasuke said without even looking at his friend.

"Did they say who our sensei was?" Sakura asked. The two boys shook their heads and she sighed.

"Maybe something happened to them?"Naruto said.

"Like what? They got waylaid by rogue ninja while inside Konoha?" Sasuke scoffed at the thought of a jounin who was supposedly strong enough to have a team running into any trouble.

"It could have been an emergency mission?"

"Or it could have been annoying pets that don't ever listen," a voice said from behind the three of them. "By the way, negative points for not paying attention."

Naruto glanced at Sasuke in horror as they turned to see Kakashi standing behind them.

"You've got to be kidding," Naruto groaned even as Sasuke sighed.

"Afraid not brat. Ok you three, rooftop!" Kakashi gave an eye smile and then teleported away without even a wisp of smoke.

"You know him?" Sakura asked, eyeing the spot the jounin had been standing.

"Yeah, that's my nii-san," Naruto said. "His name is Kakashi Hatake, and he's one of the strongest jounin Konoha has."

"He's also the most irritating," Sasuke said. "Let's go."

The other two nodded and they all took the stairs up to the roof. Kakashi sat on one of the rails waiting for them, and gestured for them to take a seat in front of him.

"Great, now that you're here, let's all introduce ourselves."

None of them said anything at first, and then Sakura spoke up.

"Why don't you go first sensei?"

"I am Kakashi Hatake. I have no intentions of telling you my likes and dislikes. As for my dream... I have few hobbies."

"Yeah like reading porn," Naruto muttered.

"You only told us your name sensei," Sakura said. Sasuke just sighed.

"Ok, next," Kakashi said, pointing to Naruto.

"Yeah, whatever. My name is Naruto Uzumaki. I like ramen and training with my friends, especially the ones that wear masks. I dislike people that hurt my friends and precious people. My dream is to become Hokage. You already knew that though," Naruto said with a glare. "Hobbies include pranks and helping out with D ranks."

"Wonderful, next," Kakashi said. He looked at Sasuke, who just sighed.

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I enjoy training, I dislike irritating people. My dream is to become stronger than my nii-san."

"And finally, Pinkie over here."

"Um, my name is Sakura Haruno. I like, um, flowers I guess, and getting a new technique right. I dislike bullies, and my dream is to become a strong kunoichi." While Sakura had started out stumbling, her voice was strong when she declared her dream.

Naruto was just glad she didn't mention marrying Sasuke or having his babies. One of the girls had done that before and it had just been creepy.

"And now that we've done that, I'll explain what we'll be doing next. You have half an hour to meet me at training ground 7 with whatever you think you'll need to pass my test. If you fail, I'm sending all three of you back to Iruka-sensei. I'm sure Naruto-kun or Sasuke-kun were kind enough to inform you that I can do that as your Jounin sensei." Kakashi gave them all an eye smile before vanishing again.

"Why are we being tested now?" Sakura asked.

"Who knows with him," Naruto said. "We better hurry though. Training ground 7 is kinda far."

"We'll pick up gear from my place," Sasuke said as he took off. The other two followed behind him as Sasuke continued. "We won't have much time, but it should be enough to get what we need. His plan is likely to throw us off balance by not giving us time to plan."

"Or time to rest either. But if that's so, the test can't be an endurance test, can it?" Sakura mused. "All tests have a way to be passed and we're not prepared for an endurance test."

"That's not true Sakura-san. A real endurance test is when you're already tired and you keep going," Naruto said.

"Still, why would he care about endurance? That can be trained," Sasuke said. "He's going to be looking for proof that we can make it as ninja."

"What's the most important thing for ninja then?" Sakura asked.

"The will of fire?" Naruto offered.

"He will probably see how well we complete a task," Sasuke said. "As we said earlier. Now focus on running faster. We'll need gear and none us will stand a chance without it."

The three made it to the Uchiha compound and quickly grabbed kunai pouches, along with shuriken, ninja wire, and a few smoke bombs. It wasn't much but they weren't allowed explosive tags yet, and without knowing the exact test there was no way to plan better either.

* * *

Kakashi was already standing in the middle of the training ground when they arrived with only a minute to spare.

"For a moment there I wondered if you were going to make it," Kakashi said. Naruto just stuck out his tongue as he caught his breath. Sakura was more winded than either boy but still the three were as ready to go as possible. "Now for your test, you'll have until the sun sets to retrieve these two bells from me. If you fail to get a bell, you fail the test. Simple, ne?"

Naruto glanced at Sasuke, who just nodded. Sakura looked unsettled but also looked to Sasuke for instruction.

"Ready? Begin."

"Let's go," Sasuke said, and he darted into the tree line. Naruto followed closely behind, though he made sure to leave Sakura in the middle. If they were ambushed she stood the least chance of holding Kakashi off.

Once they were a suitable distance away Sasuke found a group of bushes they could hide in.

"First, suppress your chakra as much as possible. He'll still probably find us but let's make it as hard as possible." Sakura and Naruto nodded, so Sasuke continued. "Our first priority is getting the bells. Anything else can be determined later. We have a few hours until sunset, but in all honesty we're only going to get one, maybe two chances before we're too tired or out of supplies."

"Not to mention the darker it gets the harder it will be for us to catch nii-san."

"That too," Sasuke said. "Naruto, I'll need you to make as many clones as you can, and try to flood his vision with it. Sakura-san, you'll be throwing kunai and shuriken to help distract him as well. I'll move in for hand to hand and see if I can't push him enough to give one of you the chance to cut the bells from his waist. Naruto, don't actually be among the clones that way Sakura doesn't have to worry about hitting you."

"Actually, I know the Kage Bunshin now, so they can help attack too," Naruto said with a grin.

"Even better. Make as many as you can and keep him distracted. Make a few regular Bunshin to make his life more difficult while you're at it."

"Got it!" Naruto said.

"Alright," Sakura said.

"Good, now hopefully he'll still be waiting for us. Move out."

Keeping their chakra low, the three crept back towards the clearing. Both Sasuke and Naruto had done enough training to be able to sense Kakashi's chakra once they were close enough, and Sasuke nodded. Naruto made a cross sign with his hands, and suddenly the clearing was full of clones. Then he ran through another set of hand signs and more clones appeared in the field. Sasuke used a quick henge to match Naruto and darted in. Between the three of them, they managed to get a clean hit in only for Kakashi to disappear in a puff of smoke.

"Ah man, a clone," Naruto grumbled. He tried to stay hidden as he moved all the while keeping his clones active to hide Sasuke's retreat as well. Before he could meet back up with his team mates though, Kakashi caught him by surprise and sent him flying into the clearing. The pain disrupted his control and the regular clones disappeared. His other clones, what were left of them, were helping Sakura and Sasuke get out of the way.

"First, let's review Taijutsu," Kakashi said with an evil looking grin. Naruto gulped and slid into a proper Taijutsu stance. Kakashi took that as a cue to start and began delivering punishing blows that Naruto used every trick he knew to escape. Just as he thought he was done for Sasuke appeared and used a low attack, giving Naruto a chance to Kawarimi out of the fight.

Sasuke grinned as he felt the chakra for the technique go off, and continued his assault with support from Sakura. Naruto clones quickly rejoined the fray and Sasuke released a Katon that made Naruto grin. They had practiced together as Sasuke learned to hide the shuriken in the Katon, and Naruto quickly amplified it with a minor Fuuton that Asuma-san had taught him.

For a moment Naruto thought they just might have had him. But then, in a mere instant, Sasuke ended up buried in the dirt, Naruto hanging from a tree, and Sakura tossed into the nearby lake. Kakashi disappeared and the three were left to free themselves in peace.

"Well that went well," Naruto said as he dug Sasuke out.

"Our strategy worked fine. He's just that far beyond our skills," Sasuke replied.

"So what now?"

"We try again." Both boys looked in surprised to see a very determined looking Sakura standing there. Even though she was soaking wet, she wasn't ready to give up. "Doing the same thing won't work so we'll have to get creative, but we don't stop trying until the sun sets."

Both boys just grinned and nodded.

"Any ideas then?" Sasuke asked.

"Yeah. Naruto-san, you played a lot of pranks on Iruka-sensei right? So you're probably pretty good with traps. Let's try to heavily trap an area and then lead him there for the fight."

"If we set up enough Kawarimi points too, we should be able to move faster than him," Sasuke mused.

"Henge is out since Kashi-nii uses his nose though," Naruto said. Sasuke gave him a strange look before sighing.

"Remind me of that next time before we rush into the fight, baka."

"Sure thing aho."

* * *

Kakashi surveyed the trio before him. The sun had set and they were all exhausted, yet they hadn't stopped until the very end. And even if they hadn't managed to get the bells, they had shown him something more important than so called skill.

"So, what have you learned from this?" Kakashi asked. He might know they were going to pass but they didn't know yet.

"That we need to get stronger still," Sakura said. If the look in her eyes was anything to go by, she would be working on that at the next opportunity regardless of her results.

"That even when we work together, sometimes there will be opponents we can't defeat," Naruto added. Saying it obviously frustrated the boy but it was also good for him to realize there would be times where you couldn't always win.

"You still have to finish the fight though, even if it seems pointless," Sasuke finished. Kakashi hid another smile at their attitude.

"Why did you work together though? You each needed a bell to pass and there were only two."

"As if we stood a chance otherwise," Naruto retorted with a snort.

"Sensei is too strong," Sakura said, giving Naruto a nod.

"Not to mention missions are completed as teams. Nii-san said when you are on a mission, your mission may come first but you must always be aware of your team mates," Sasuke said.

"And what would you have done had you gotten the bells?"

All three of them looked at each other and then shrugged.

"We would have figured that out after we had them, I suppose," Sasuke finally said. "But genin don't work in groups smaller than four, so it didn't make sense that you would fail one of us and not the rest if we had all worked together for the final goal."

Kakashi felt a bubble of pride in Naruto and Sasuke. Watching the two grow had been something utterly terrifying at times and yet also utterly rewarding.

"This monument is a place where the names of heroes are written," Kakashi said. His students looked confused by the change of topic but listened intently. "These heroes are special though, as each was killed in combat and unable to be brought home. My best friend's name is on here, along with the names of many people I cared deeply for. This test was a test on two fronts. First, it tested your resolve. Despite the odds, could you come at me with the intent to complete the task. Secondly, it tested whether you could work as a team. A well coordinated team can take down a much stronger opponent with ease."

"Then why the two bells?" Naruto asked. "Wouldn't that put us against each other?"

"Someday, you may be forced to make a choice: the mission or a comrade. Just as there were only two bells, perhaps only two could return. What would you do then?" Kakashi asked, turning to face them once more.

"Find a way to do both," Naruto instantly replied and Kakashi sighed.

"The mission is supposed to come first," Sakura said, but Kakashi could hear the hesitation in her voice.

"Our comrades are supposed to be our family, and that is supposed to come first," Sasuke said. His voice was resolute, and Naruto nodded.

"Even if it would start a war if the mission was failed? Even if thousands of lives were lost because you refused to sacrifice one?"

"That doesn't matter," Naruto said. "We can only affect the missions we are on, and you can't know what will happen if you save your team mate but you know that if you don't, they will die."

"Naruto-san is right," Sakura said. "You shouldn't make decisions based on information you don't have." Sasuke just nodded his agreement.

"Congratulations then, you three. You pass." His students shared a look before looking at him even more confused. He decided to take pity on them and explain. "Ninja are trained to take orders and to complete missions. But that doesn't mean that their lives aren't worthwhile. A friend once told me that those who abandon their missions are trash, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash. When you take missions I want you to think about your orders, and also to value the lives of your comrades. If you can't do that, then you aren't fit to be ninja. Everything else can be taught or trained."

"So, you're really letting us pass?" Sakura asked and Kakashi chuckled.

"Yes, you pass. Team 7 will start training tomorrow morning at 8am here. So go home, and make sure to eat something that will give you plenty of energy for tomorrow. You're going to burn it off, I promise."

**AN: So this chapter was actually pretty long. Don't expect them all this long but I didn't want to be mean and split their test up. I know some of you will be surprised I chose a traditional team 7 but you'll see in the next chapter a bit more of the reasoning why. Based off of what most of you have said, I'll be posting as I have the time instead of waiting for getting further into the story. I have a decent amount written, and even hit inspiration but I also don't have a lot of time to edit it and I dislike posting anything I haven't at least read over once. With school I really can't make any promises but I'm going to try to do every other week for updates. Also sorry my line breaks keep getting removed somehow.**

**I do still have one shots that I'll be working on as I have time as well, but again those will be time dependant. Any oneshots that happen in between the events of 1 and 2 will still be posted to 1, unless everyone would rather I create a separate place for them. Let me know if you guys feel that would be better. And now on to my favorite part, reviews!**

**Clipped Wings- So sorry I missed your review last time, but thanks for waiting and hope a double length chapter is worth it.**

**Azfaerydust- sorry it took me so long. I see you finished yours and got onto a sequel. I must say I'm a bit jealous and also embarrassed. Still find it funny we kept unintentionally mimicking each other lol.**

**Darkhuntress- thanks for the review and hope you enjoy. As for my comfort, well I'm a college student, so there's no such thing. I used to have this thing called free time, but it was so long ago I barely remember *sniff***

**Quackerduck- thanks for the review. Irritating thing, I still haven't managed to take my test because apparently this thing hates me and won't let me schedule it. -.-**

**Lukymiko- thanks so much for being so supportive. I love having such great readers and all of you have been really understanding with my schooling. As I said earlier, I'm hoping I'll manage biweekly, or at least monthly, as this is something I really enjoy.**

**Silverdreams- thanks for the enthusiasm, and yah, grad school is no joke. I'm still managing all A's in my program though so totally worth it. Hope you like this chapter too.**

**Butterflypuss- thanks!**

**Quiltedcat- More story it is, though I'm actually not one of those authors prone to frequent rewrites even when unposted. I will do 1, maybe 2 edits unless I'm really not happy. Mainly because this is fanfiction and I do it for fun. But I did find inspiration for the next chapter to make it even better so this delay was totally worth it.**

**Emptysurface- I'll be trying to get what I have up over the next few weeks/months. School is manageable minus hard to work with team mates and really long nights some times. Hopefully this chapter makes up for a slow first one.**

**Kunohichi8- I already have the entire story mapped, at this point it's a matter of filling in the little details along with smoothing out the edges. Still, I'm in a good writing mood and have a day or two off so will prob try to work ahead a bit.**

**Uchiha's Legacy- I love Kakashi and Naruto together, though a part of me loves Kakashi with his ANBU more. They just make me laugh so hard. Hope you enjoy this one.**

**SoraHuuzuke- one of these day I will write an omake where Kakashi shows up on time, or even early, just because and the entire day/mission will spiral out of control to the point where he swears never again. And yeah school is first but it's going well at least.**

**XPrisca150- thank you so much. Reviewers really do make my day and the fact that so many of you stick with me makes me happier than I can express using words alone. I hope this updates gives you the same smile your review gave me.**

**Duchessme- thanks for the compliments and I feel like I should apologize for any addictions…then again nahhh. It's too much fun. Hopefully I'll be able to keep a biweekly schedule but we'll see. You're right that extra time helps, but sometimes getting away from it too much makes it harder to get back in.**

**Guest (1)- I'm glad you enjoy it and I'll try to get them up as I can.**

**EclipseKuran- I'm glad I can make you so happy. Hopefully the sequel won't let you down.**

**MugetsuIchigo- Awwwwww that's so sweet **** And I'll prob have to aim for biweekly but I'll do my best.**

**If I missed any reviewers I'm sorry and I love you all and hope you enjoy this chapter. **

**~Hichii 3**


	4. Chapter 4

"Nice work you did  
You're gonna go far, kid"

The Offspring- You're Gonna Go Far Today

Chapter 3

Kakashi slipped into ANBU headquarters and groaned when he saw the pile of paperwork awaiting him. There was a reason he'd been trying to retire off and on, and also a reason he was never going anywhere near the big hat either.

"How did their test go?" Itachi asked, setting yet another pile of paperwork on his desk.

"They passed, and rather impressively too. Didn't get the bells or anything but Team 7 will officially start their duties tomorrow."

"I'm sure the boys will be ecstatic. Have you told them what their D rank options will be?"

Kakashi just grinned and Itachi smirked back. D ranks were the bane of all ninjas but it had become a rite of passage as much as anything else.

"Well, I'm sure they won't require you keeping them at D ranks for long. Even with a weak third member, the boys can cover well enough for higher ranked missions," Itachi mused.

Kakashi went to respond, but then paused.

"Shit, they passed."

"You already said that Captain."

"But they actually passed, which means they'll be on missions. And it's Naruto, which means they can and will go wrong. Oh god what was I thinking?" Kakashi could see it now. It would start out with a harmless D or C rank, and then somehow they'd be fighting missing nin or dodging maniacal freaks with face masks.

"It'll be fine," Itachi said soothingly. "You'll be there to watch out for them."

"It's Naruto," Kakashi said flatly. "With Sasuke. Do I need to remind you about their trip outside of the wall at five years of age? Or how about the time they were kidnapped from the academy despite being under protection?"

"I see your point," Itachi said, paling as he thought back to those early days.

"I can just stick them in the ANBU bunks. They can stay there for a few years, and then it'll all be better," Kakashi said. "I'm sure they'll be fine doing D ranks. Who needs C ranks after all."

"Might I recommend putting them through a modified ANBU crash course before allowing them out of the village instead? It won't miraculously bring them to our level but it should give them the ability to not get killed until you get there."

Kakashi just stared at Itachi and the younger boy sighed.

"I'm not any happier about them being in danger but that is why you negotiated to be their Jounin sensei and that is why you've been training these last years. If anyone can keep them safe, it's you."

"Maybe I should ask Jiraiya to take them on. They'd be a great team for him, and he hasn't taught anyone recently."

"Kakashi, you're already sending Naruto to Jiraiya as an apprentice." Itachi said, irritation leaking into his voice. "And you can't coddle them. Train them, make them as strong as you can, and believe in them."

Kakashi stared at him before he sighed and let his shoulders fall. "Fine, you're right. I had to agree to at least another year of this job just to take them, and you're right. I've made plenty of ANBU strong. How hard can it be to make a group of genin strong?"

"Just try not to kill them Kakashi."

* * *

The next morning Naruto woke up to breakfast left on the table and a note saying Kakashi would meet them for team training. So he shrugged and dug in before taking care of the dishes left over. After that he got his things together and was out the door with time to spare.

Sasuke was already waiting and Sakura showed up mere minutes after him but they still had a good fifteen to twenty minutes before training actually started.

"Should we warm up while we wait?" Naruto asked. Sasuke nodded and the two of them went to the clearing to start stretching. Sakura followed them and joined in as well.

"Is Kakashi-sensei really going to work us that hard?" Sakura asked.

"Um, well since we're a team now I guess we can tell you. Nii-san is the ANBU commander, and so he trains with them and they helped train Sasuke and I when we were still in the academy," Naruto said.

"Keep that to yourself though," Sasuke added. "My nii-san is ANBU as well or I wouldn't have known."

"Alright." Sakura was a bit unnerved by the information but she was also excited to have such a strong sensei.

As they continued stretching the meeting time came and went.

"I wonder if something came up. Nii-san was out of the house before me," Naruto said with a frown.

"He would have sent someone though right?" Sakura asked. Sasuke snorted and Naruto just looked at her.

"He may be strong, but he's also really stupid sometimes Sakura-san."

"More like intentionally annoying. Now come on, next up is the run. If we get it done before he gets here then we'll get to the real training," Sasuke said.

They had run a couple circuits around the training ground and were getting ready to do mock sparring when Kakashi finally arrived.

"You're late!" Naruto and Sakura both yelled.

"You could have at least sent a messenger," Naruto added.

"Maa maa, sorry. A few things came up here and there. Next thing I knew everyone had lost their armor and you know how they are without their armor," Kakashi said with a grin. "Since you've already warmed up we can get straight to the good stuff. Although first I want to explain a few things I forgot to cover yesterday."

The trio plopped down in the grass around him as Kakashi stood before them.

"Our team is going to be a little unique in that my job is to get all of you ready to either pass the chunin exams this year or at least to move on to an individual teacher. Both Sasuke-kun and Naruto-kun have already had teachers picked out for them to apprentice to, however neither teacher is available to take on a student full time right now. They both should be available after this year's exams though. Sakura-chan, for you I'm going to be focusing on finding where your talents lie and then strengthening your basics so that any team or teacher you end up with will have no problems taking your further."

"What? But why?" Naruto asked. "I like this team."

"We'll be a team for a while still Naruto, and we'll still work together later on. However you and Sasuke both are well ahead of your classmates and would benefit from an apprenticeship more than the standard genin team training," Kakashi explained. "And Sakura, your written tests showed aptitude but your physical tests were lacking so we are hoping to correct that. Now I want to clarify, this does not mean you get to skip out on team building. It is still very important. I just didn't want it to be a surprise to you when you get split in the future."

"You really think we can pass the chunin exams this year sensei?" Sakura asked.

"If you train hard enough you'll at least stand a chance," Kakashi said with a shrug. "But it's really up to you and how much work you're willing to put in."

"Let's do it," Sakura said. Naruto and Sasuke just looked at each other skeptically.

"Ne, Sakura-san. Are you sure you want to do that? Kashi-nii can be really brutal if you ask for training," Naruto said.

"I can do it," Sakura replied.

"Well, in this case you will have to do it as a team," Kakashi said. "Since training is done as a team."

"Fine, but you two better not wimp out," Sasuke said with a huff. "And I don't want to hear any complaining either."

"Pretty sure you'll be asking for mercy first," Naruto retorted but he still nodded.

"Maaa, this will be so much more fun that I had planned," Kakashi said, giving the trio an utterly fake eye smile. "Now to start with the basics."

Kakashi walked over to the nearest tree and slowly walked up it until he was standing upside down on one of the branches.

"Every ninja needs to know how to attach themselves to various surfaces using their chakra. Naruto, Sasuke, both of you have started learning this, but you'll need to perfect it before we move on to the next training. Sakura this works by molding the chakra at the sole of your foot. Too much and you'll get pushed away, not enough and you'll fall off. Find the right balance and then maintain it."

With that Kakashi flipped off the tree and landed in front of them.

"Get to it you three."

Despite their head start, Sakura still beat Naruto and Sasuke to the top.

"How did she do that?" Naruto asked in awe.

"It's her control," Sasuke said from his tree. "She has less chakra, so it's easier for her to make adjustments."

"Now now Sasuke, it's more than that," Kakashi said from below them. "She actually has nearly perfect control. If she can build up her stamina and reserves, she could make a very good medic nin, or a genjutsu master even."

"Man, I wish I could do that," Naruto groaned as he slipped again and had to flip off.

"You have your own talents Naruto," Kakashi chided. "For instance, she'll never be able to use the Kage Bunshin like you will, nor will she be able to throw ninjutsu around without having to watch her chakra very carefully."

They continued practicing until lunch, with Naruto and Sasuke finally getting the hang of it just in time. Sakura had continued walking to help build her stamina while she waited on the boys.

Kakashi pulled out four bento boxes for their lunch break and gestured for them to sit around him. As they started eating, he decided to go over a few things.

"Since you want to make an actual attempt at the chunin exams this year, we're going to have to take your training seriously. That means every morning will be dedicated to stamina training and the basics like tree walking. Afternoons will be spent working on individual skills for the first two weeks. During that time I'll build your arsenal of various skills including tracking, traps, and basic jutsu, along with theory to allow you to maximize your strengths."

"What about after the first two weeks?" Sasuke asked suspiciously.

"After the first two weeks we'll condense your stamina work and then spend a few afternoons of each week taking D rank missions. Once a month has passed, I'll evaluate the three of you to see if you're ready for a C-rank. If you want to do that though, you'll need to work hard, and also put in enough D-ranks to impress Hokage-sama. To take the chunin exams you'll need plenty of D-ranks as well as a few C-ranks or higher," Kakashi said.

"You said we'd be doing individual work in the afternoons sensei, but I thought we needed to work as a team," Sakura said.

"You do, but each of you has different abilities and thus your techniques should reflect that. We'll have time practicing together too, but it is important that you begin learning the skills that you'll need now and then continue to hone them as we approach the exams."

"So we're going to specialize instead of being an all-around team?" Naruto asked.

"Yes and no," Kakashi said with a sigh. "Some skills I will teach all of you, but when it comes to combat, I want you to each know what the other's primary job is. This will keep you from getting in each other's way. Naruto, you and Sasuke already do this naturally from having trained together for so long. When you fight a target together, you run interference while Sasuke waits for a chance to land a more accurate hit. And now you have the Kage Bunshin to add to that. It will take trial and error for you to learn the limitations of the technique."

"Not to mention we can't all learn the same things anyway," Sasuke added. "I have a fire affinity, while yours is wind. It would be a waste of time for you to try to learn complicated Katon jutsu."

"How do you find out your affinity?" Sakura asked. "It wasn't something we did in the academy."

"There are a couple of ways," Kakashi said. "But the easiest by far is to just use chakra paper. We'll take care of that this afternoon. First though, we need to decide what roles each of you would prefer."

"It seems like it would be best for Sasuke and Naruto to be the fighters," Sakura said as she thought over their specialties. "Earlier you said chakra control is good for medic nin and genjutsu, so I could provide a support role that way."

"Don't let their specialties affect yours too much Sakura," Kakashi said. "Just because you don't have a good grasp of taijutsu at the moment doesn't mean you have no talent at it."

"Yeah, Sakura can hit hard," Naruto said. He chuckled and everyone looked at him confused. "Oh come on Sasuke, don't you remember that time one of the other girls was picking on her and she got mad? She tried to punch the other girl and the girl dodged but she totally left a hole in the fence behind her."

"Regardless, you'll learn to dodge and fight defensively if nothing else. Medics, while not frontline fighters, have to be able to get out of the way better than anyone else because they absolutely have to be the last one standing," Kakashi said. "After training today, talk about it as a group and also think about it. You can let me know tomorrow how you would like to specialize."

"And this afternoon?" Sasuke asked.

"This afternoon you'll work as a team on evasion tactics. In the Chunin exams there will often be teams stronger than you. Missions are the same way. So any good team needs to be able to avoid detection, and if detected, run away."

"Ne Ni-san, who is going to be chasing us?"

"Sensei not ni-san when we're training Naruto, and I think we'll start with the pack. If you successfully evade them, I happen to know a new team needing some practice," Kakashi said. Naruto and Sasuke looked at each other and sighed even as Kakashi just eye smiled.

"Come on Sakura, let's go," Naruto said. "We get a head start don't we sensei?"

"Sure, this time at least."

The three took off and started into the forest.

"Kawarimi is probably going to be best, especially in the trees," Naruto said after they were a fair distance away.

"Water too, if we can find a stream. The ninken hunt by scent primarily so we'll have to leave as little behind as possible," Sasuke added.

"I guess it's a good time to practice tree walking then," Sakura said. With a determine look she climbed into the upper branches followed by the boys.

"Clones Naruto," Sasuke said. A few Kage Bunshin appeared and dashed ahead of them. Once they were far enough, they used the Kawarimi to swap places.

"Hey can the clones Henge?" Sakura asked.

"I think so," Naruto said. He created another clone and had it Henge into Sasuke.

"What if we give a clone a piece of clothing or something, and have them Henge as us and go in a different direction?" Sakura said. "It would buy us more time at least."

"Sounds good," Sasuke said.

Naruto again made a set of clones who ran ahead. They left the clothes on the branches they were on and then switched with the clones. While the clones Henged and darted in a different direction, the main group kept moving deeper into the woods.

After a few more minutes they heard the howling of ninken. Sasuke put a finger to his lips when Sakura went to say something. She nodded and switched to hand signals. It was sloppy but they could communicate without sound at least.

'Find a hideout?' Sakura signed.

'Unfamiliar location.' Naruto signed back. Sasuke signed the same.

'Climb higher?'

Both boys looked at each other and then checked the tree they were on. It was sturdy and should be able to hold them. It might also provide a way to look around without being seen by the ninken. With a nod all three of them scaled further into the tree as carefully as they could.

When they finally broke through the canopy all they saw were more trees with small openings here and there. They could even see the monument's clearing too. However none of them saw any large formations of rocks which meant if there was one, it was going to be close to the ground.

'What next?' Naruto signed.

'We wait.' Sasuke signed back. From their current location they would be difficult, if not impossible to see even from the lower areas of the canopy.

'Move to a different tree first?' Sakura suggested. Sasuke thought about it but then shook his head.

'Too dangerous from here. Would have to go down.' Since doing so would leave more of their scent around, it wasn't worth the risk.

Naruto pulled a spool of ninja wire from his pouch and tied himself to the tree before passing the wire around. Sakura nearly sagged in relief as she finally released the channeling to her feet. While Sasuke wasn't as drained chakra wise, the control aspect was still difficult for him and he was equally glad for the break.

'How long?' Naruto signed.

Sasuke just shrugged and Naruto rolled his eyes. Then he leaned back against the tree and closed his eyes. He wasn't sure how long he relaxed in the sun until Sasuke tapped his shoulder.

'Trouble?' Naruto signed as he scanned the area.

'My turn,' was Sasuke's response as the dark haired boy closed his eyes. Naruto just grinned and took up watch instead.

* * *

About an hour later Naruto's eyes widened as he felt a chakra flare.

"Wake up guys, we gotta move now," Naruto said, quickly untying his own wire before starting on Sakura's before she was even fully awake.

"What's going on?" Sasuke asked, doing the same.

"Sensei just flared his chakra. I felt four flares respond which means if he was serious before, we need to get out of the trees."

"Why do we need to get out of the trees?" Sakura asked, fully awake now and already climbing down.

"ANBU specialize in tracking prey through the trees. And they won't rely on scent to find us," Sasuke said even as Naruto made nine clones. The clones Henged into copies of the team and spread out in different directions.

"Hopefully that will buy us some time to find a spot to hide," Naruto said.

"No more chakra either," Sasuke added. "They'll likely have a sensor, so we need to move quickly and keep all chakra suppressed."

Naruto frowned but nodded.

"I should have made more then. At least depleting my reserves makes it easier to hide them," Naruto grumbled.

"One big batch and that's it," Sasuke said and Naruto nodded. He made another cross sign and this time the clearing filled with Kage Bunshin. Soon they had all gotten into groups of three before putting on a Henge and moving out.

Sasuke went first as he navigated the brush, with Sakura in the middle, and Naruto at the back trying to cover their trail. He was also laying small but effective traps to slow down the ANBU when they inevitably caught up. In the distance they heard a boom as another Naruto's trap went off. The clone's memories flooded back to him and Naruto grinned at the creative use of a smoke bomb, some dirt, and a hornet's nest.

"Looks like they're still pretty close to the monument," Naruto whispered to the other two. "And they're hunting as a team instead of splitting up."

"That may not last long once they realize you are using clones," Sakura said, to which Naruto shrugged.

"There's a clearing up ahead," Sasuke said. "Let's go around it, but keep an eye out for any dense patches. It may be better to find somewhere to hide and then fortify it as best as possible."

"Ni-san always said moving was better when trying to evade capture," Naruto said.

"Yeah but we're stuck in the training field," Sasuke said.

"Are we?" Sakura suddenly asked. "I don't remember sensei saying we had to stay here."

The two boys looked at each other before they both groaned in embarrassment.

"She's right. If we keep going this direction we should hit training ground 8. As long as we skirt the edges of it, then even if it's in use we won't disturb the other team," Naruto said.

"Let's go. If we can get to training ground 8 and make it out without incident, then we should be able to head back into Konoha normally."

"We could even go get ramen," Naruto joked.

The three set off, hopeful their plan would work. Naruto had made enough clones that even for ANBU it would take time to determine which was the right group, or so they hoped.

Half an hour later the three were standing in front of a cheerful looking sensei. At their backs were four cloaked figures who were looking nearly pristine despite the sheer number of traps the Naruto clones had set.

"We found them on the borders of training ground 8," one of the ANBU reported. Naruto looked up to see that it was Raccoon. While not one of the ANBU specializing in tracking, he had spent a fair amount of time teaching Naruto traps before he had been promoted to team captain.

"You didn't say we had to stay here," Naruto pointed out helpfully.

"Nor did I tell the ANBU they had to either," Kakashi replied with a grin. He had been hoping they would realize the loophole he had left them. Apparently it had taken them awhile to do so though, and they hadn't gotten far enough away before he had called off the ninken and sent the ANBU instead. "Good job with the clones and traps Naruto. They kept these guys amused for a while. Although you should have been able to get further. I gave them orders to stay together as a team to handicap them."

"In their defense, we got lucky some," Raccoon said quietly. "They hadn't used any chakra to track them by after the initial two bursts, and all of the teams were using similar traps and formations."

"Luck is part of being a ninja and a good plan should account for the enemy getting lucky and do everything it can to negate it," Kakashi said, looking at his genin. They all nodded though Sakura was frowning.

"Sensei how could we have negated luck. There was no way to make them more likely to choose one path over another was there?" Sakura asked.

"You tell me? How could you have made them go a different way?" Kakashi asked.

"We should have had the clones act differently, at least a few of them," Sasuke said.

"Exactly. If you had only a small group of clones hiding themselves carefully, it would have lead them to chase those first," Kakashi said.

"But then they would have ignored them after the first one or two were fakes," Naruto complained.

"Yes, but as your clones disperse you get their memories correct?" Kakashi said. Naruto nodded and Kakashi continued. "Then at that point, when you noticed they stopped chasing those clones, you could change how you covered yourself while leaving the rest of the clones to use a different method. At some point they would have stopped relying on those indicators and moved instead to systematical elimination, but it would have bought you time."

"You shouldn't have stuck totally to the ground either," one of the ANBU said. "It's faster to move in the trees and so long as some of your clones are doing the same, the chakra usage won't stand out."

"We're still just learning tree walking though, so we aren't very fast yet," Sakura said.

"The clones still could have done it," Naruto said with a sigh. "And if we had made it back into the village, it would have been a lot harder for them to find us, so even that little bit of time would have been important."

"Exactly," Kakashi said. "However, for your first attempt it wasn't bad. You thought about your orders carefully, and found a solution even if you didn't enact it fully. Now thank your playmates and we'll move on to something new."

The genin turned around and bowed to the ANBU while thanking them. The ANBU just nodded before disappearing in a swirl of leaves.

"Since you three look exhausted, we'll move onto something a little less physical but still equally important. Theory."

Naruto groaned as he plopped down and Sasuke looked bored already but Sakura perked up at the idea.

"Specifically, sealing," Kakashi said. "Now I doubt any of you will be seal masters, but it doesn't hurt to have a good understanding of the basics. Being able to determine if that seal is a variation of an explosive tag versus a summoning circle can be vitally important on a mission. You'll also eventually learn to disable lesser tags and seals as you advance through the ranks."

"Your sensei was a master wasn't he?" Sasuke asked and Kakashi nodded.

"My sensei was the Yondaime Hokage, and he was one of the greatest seal masters Konoha ever produced. However you'll find that I'm only slightly above average when it comes to sealing. My specialty lies in ninjutsu."

Kakashi then proceeded to pull out a few scrolls, which he handed to each of his students.

"These scrolls have storage seals on them. Storage seals are probably the most common seal you will encounter as a ninja." He then proceeded to explain the differences between the types of storage seals, including ones that kept food cold versus ones for weapons or for things bigger than the seal itself. For each one, he had an example in their scroll, and he had them remove it and then put it back. The only one he didn't have an example in the seal for was the dead body seal.

When he was done he dismissed them and teleported away, leaving them to discuss their roles as a team.

* * *

At first none of them said anything, each contemplating what they wanted to do and how it would work with the team. Sasuke spoke up first.

"Because of my Sharingan I'm already suited for genjutsu and ninjutsu, as well as taijutsu if I can strengthen my body. Throwing wise, I have good aim, and thrown weapons mesh well with my Katon Jutsu. So while I can fill most roles, a secondary fighting role would likely fit best."

"I have a lot of chakra which makes me ideal for ninjutsu, and like Kakashi-ni said, I'm used to being the diversion. My taijutsu is a strength too since it's so unpredictable. While I can be stealthy and I'm great with traps, I can't do any genjutsu at all and I get caught in it easily. I'm starting to learn seals at home with Kakashi-ni but I'm not very good at them yet and mostly I like the explosive or trap ones," Naruto said.

"I have very good chakra control, but all of my physical skills need work. I think a support role would be best for me, but I'd still like to strengthen my taijutsu as much as possible so that I can protect myself when we are fighting."

"So we're still going for a balanced team instead of specialized?" Naruto asked.

"Seems so," Sasuke said. "We can still have a preferred attack method but being able to switch our formations fluidly would be a huge asset."

"Yeah, just imagine the enemies' surprise if they tried to go after Sakura and she smashed them to pieces," Naruto said with a grin. Sakura smiled and Sasuke took on a predatory look.

"I think that should be our team focus," Sasuke said. "We'll be hard to counter if we don't always fight the same way and if we aren't stuck in the same role all the time."

"Now we just have to convince sensei," Sakura said.

"Piece of cake. We'll still each learn different things, but then we can practice our formations when we fight," Naruto said.

"I'd still like to start learning to heal I think," Sakura said. "While a few genjutsu would be nice, I'm not as interested in being a genjutsu specialist."

"I'd just like to be able to fight them better," Naruto muttered. "I'll continue to focus on trap setting and taijutsu, along with the more chakra intensive ninjutsu. Might as well use it if I have so much."

"Alright, I'll work on my ranged ninjutsu as support. I think I might like to learn a weapon to give me something else to strike with," Sasuke said. "Maybe a sword or tanto like the ANBU use."

"Cool, we're going to be so badass," Naruto said.

"We have to actually learn it all first," Sakura told him but Naruto just laughed.

"We are going to do it. After all, we're going to become Chunin this year," Naruto said, his eyes going serious. "It's a promise."

"A promise," the other two agreed, equally focused.

* * *

Missing moment- Genin celebrations (Because I forgot to work it in earlier)

The day after their graduation Naruto excitedly met up with Sasuke and Itachi for their second celebratory dinner. This one was held at Naruto's house since it made it easier for the ANBU to stop by and congratulate their two mascots.

"So, now the two of you runts are genin, huh. What's the world coming to?" Anko teased. Naruto just stuck out his tongue while Sasuke ignored her.

"We're going to be strong genin and then we'll be jounin and kicking your butt in no time."

"Of course you are kid," Anko agreed. "In your dreams if nothing else. Although I did help train you, so you better make me look good out there."

"They still don't even have a jounin sensei yet Anko-san," Itachi said calmly. "It would be best to wait for that before you get too excited."

"Hey, we'll pass the second test for sure, right Sasuke!"

Sasuke just nodded before he went back to reading a scroll Itachi had given him as a gift.

"Just make sure you stay focused for the test, Naruto-kun," Itachi said.

"I know, I know. Make a plan and follow through. No charging in recklessly."

"Working together with your team mates will be important as well," Ibiki said from behind him.

Naruto jumped up and gave Ibiki a hug before returning to his seat. The others didn't even blink anymore at the almost cuddly nature Naruto brought out in Ibiki. Especially since you would never guess he had it in him otherwise. Even though he had taken Sai and Shin when they had gotten rid of root, the entire family seemed fairly devoid of emotion.

"We don't know who our team mates are yet," Naruto said with a frown.

"It doesn't matter," Tenzou said as he stepped over to the group. "A good shinobi will be able to work with any of their comrades. You never know who will be needed for a particular task after all."

"But what if they're jerks?"

"You must put those feelings aside until the mission is over," Tenzou replied.

"He's right kid," Anko added. "Like and dislike don't matter in the field. And frankly they don't belong there either."

"Alright, fine. I will find a way to work with anyone on my team."

"Then I'm sure you'll do quite well, Naruto-kun," Ibiki said, ruffling the boy's hair.

"Ugh, stop. Why does every single grown up do that?" Naruto asked as he tried to protect his hair.

"You can't protect yourself?" Kakashi said as he then ruffled Naruto's hair as well.

"Where'd you come from? Thought you had to work tonight boss?" Anko asked."

"I set some minions to do it instead," Kakashi replied gleefully. "Maybe I'll even get to let the change be permanent."

"I wouldn't be too sure commander," Itachi said. Kakashi just glared and Itachi gave him a satisfied smile.

"One of these days, I will retire."

**AN: Ok so this is super long for me but I didn't want to split the main scene and the other two barely totaled 1k together. A few things: I've explained my reasoning for this team set up. Also I'll be modifying the storyline again to push the Chunin exams out 8 months rather than the 6 (I think) it was in canon. This just makes it a little more reasonable for them to progress more while letting me squeeze in the team 7 bits I want before moving forward with the story I have in mind. **

**Also, quick question (I can't remember if I've asked before or just meant to ask), do people have a problem with me posting responses to reviews at the end of the chapter? I've had one or two complaints about it but I like having the conversation going and it allows me to share info when someone asks a good question so thoughts?**

**Lastly, I'm so sorry this is so late. I finished school and all of my little details in June, and meant to spend my summer before student teaching writing my heart out, but then I had a slight change of plans that had me sleeping the summer away quite literally. As it is, I'm having a baby, which is super exciting but also exhausting and leaves me sleeping far more than I ever thought possible. On top of that I've started my student teaching so any writing is going to be done as I can here and there when I don't have massive amounts of lesson plans to write or grading. I really want to finish this before the baby is born though.**

**ShadowPhoenix, buterflypuss, darkhuntress, Eclipse, Turmanarmo, Maxride, Azfaerydust, Noxy, Rakaan, UchihaLegacy, Mysteriouseyez, Kaito, Woof-chan, LitaofJupiter, Serei Kirite, aWiccan, Silvermist, Alice-Italy, Fluffpenguin, darkangel, Icebabe, Fangirl, tabjoy, Mindy, Brie45, Great guest, Kairilovessora, KaiaRenkin, and anon guest thank you so much for your reviews, I am terribly sorry this was so late. Hopefully it answers most of your questions (Kakashi is still nominal head as the deal, yes there will be plenty of fun ANBU shenanigans, and Kakashi pulled a few strings to be their Jounin sensei). If you still have questions, send me a fresh review (there were so many sitting in my inbox waiting for attention O.o) and I'll be sure to answer it more fully. **


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